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Tyr

God of Justice, the Even-Handed, Grimjaws, the Maimed God, Wounded Tyr, Blind Tyr, the Lord of Justice, the Just God, the Blind Overlord, the Wounded One, the One-Handed

Tyr was the lawful good deity of law and justice in the human pantheon. He was the leader of the coalition of deities known as the Triad.

Tyr was particularly popular among the states of the Eveloth League, Visuetimia, Espetania and Tabofriobiz. Worship of Tyr was deemed illegal in The Empire of Al'Quadash.

Tyr had many titles among mortals; among them was the Even-Handed, Grimjaws, the Maimed God, Wounded Tyr, Blind, Blind Tyr, the Blind Overlord, the Wounded One, and the Just God. Each title symbolized his nature to his followers.

Tyr was at first more willing than many other gods to manifest in some form or other to his followers, because of his fierce feelings of fatherly protection toward them. By the late 14th century, however, Tyr had tired of appearing and began limiting his appearances to cases with important repercussions that were not obvious to mortals. Besides his avatar, Tyr might send an intelligent war dog as a representative, or he might use a resounding gong, a choir of male voices, or a floating warhammer to express his will. The colors blue, white, and purple were considered sacred to his followers.

Divine Domains

Order, War

Holy Books & Codes

The Sacred Judgements of Tyr is a holy code written by the Tyr that covers the most noteworthy instances that Tyr deliberated on injustice and delivered retribution.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Balanced scales resting on a warhammer.

Favored animals

  • War dogs


Favored colors

  • Blue
  • Purple
  • White


Miscellaneous

  • Resounding gong
  • Chord song by male choir
  • Glowing warhammer

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Tyr was a fair judge, but he was hard to understand to those outside his faith, as they more readily perceived him as a stern and rigid punisher. On the other hand, he was seen as a brave father-figure to his followers. In truth, he was well aware that a lawful utopia would never be possible in the imperfect Material Plane, yet this did not stop him from trying to make the world a better place for his mortal followers. Tyr urged the establishment of moral and ethical codes for sentient beings in all lands. He wanted his followers to see themselves as a "perfect family", not made of perfect individuals but rather of members who tried and wanted to be perfect, who acted out of trust, courage, and love toward each other. His knowledge that such a dream would never be achieved among the mortal realm filled him with genuine sadness.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Tyr was portrayed as blind or with a bloody bandage over his eyes and missing his right hand, for which he bore his title of the Maimed God.[8] (His title of the Even-Handed, though it referred to his position of god of justice, was also seen as dark humor.) His wounded eyes were seen as symbolic of "blind justice" and the sometimes cost of living a lawful life.
He usually was shown as a burly, noble warrior with a powerful build and a bearded face.
When an avatar of Tyr appeared to his followers, his eyes (or eye) were at first the color of bright steel, but they faded away to empty sockets before the avatar vanished. His brow always shone with a white radiance or halo, leaving no doubt as to his divine nature.
He was often shown wielding a powerful magic sword or warhammer and dressed in light armor or chainmail. He did not try to hide or bandage his stump.

Special abilities

Tyr was said to be able to instantly perceive any thief coming near him and to see invisible objects and persons. He could create magical items that also bore such powers. He always knew anyone's moral and ethical viewpoint and could detect any lies. Tyr was immune to all illusions, fear, or magics affecting one's emotions.
If casting magic, Tyr never used damaging necromantic spells.
Tyr could foretell an injustice up to six months before it occurred and felt the pang of that injustice for six months afterward.

Specialized Equipment


Tyr's longsword was named Justicar. It was said to have been a gift either from Tyr's predecessor or from Lord Ao himself. It was crafted with the aid of Mystra. Tyr's warhammer was especially disrupting to undead.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Tyr was not initially a god on Edarmyrni, having appeared on the planet by portal. Tyr was a planetar from another world that had been consumed by the legions of the Nine Hells. The portal had taken him to the desolate land of Barisle, where he assisted a small group of dwarven settlers in pushing back an incursion of frost giants. He joined a campaign to further pacify the mad storm giant king, Thundatross, who had turned Kasetia into his personal kingdom. These acts elevated him to the status of a deity. Ilmater aligned himself with Tyr during his conflict with Thundatross, while Torm did so after its completion. A common term for this period of elevation was the Procession of Justice.

Tyr was never considered a dominant ruler until the Great Migration was well and truly underway, with most other members of the pantheon having been established far earlier in the Ascension.

Tyr lost his right hand to Kezef the Chaos Hound, in a test of his honor and strength of will. The Circle of Greater Powers had previously banned all mortals and powers from any contact with Kezef, but he was still free to consume souls, and a coalition of gods joined together to stop the Chaos Hound once and for all. This alliance included Tyr. They pursued the primordial beast to the Outer Planes, where they offered him a deal. They would lift the ban on him if he could escape from chains forged for him by Gond. Kezef insisted that if this were truly a fair challenge than Tyr must be willing to place his right hand into the elder evil's mouth. Tyr agreed. Kezef was enchained, the chain was anchored deep in Pandemonium, and Mystra placed an enchantment to prevent the chain from ever being severed. Furious, Kezef bit off Tyr's hand. It was said that he feasted on the gods hand, drawing power from it, for centuries. Tyr was given his justice during the Decline, when Ao agreed to grant Tyr the ability to kill Kezef, though was forced to do so with Masks assistance.

As some point between the year 0 and the Mortalbound Period, Mask made a deal with Tyr: he promised to bring the god the Claw of Malar, which was currently held by the werewolf Erzeck, in exchange for being allowed to roam the Upper Planes. Erzeck used the power of the Catlord to travel to Tyrs realm and attempted to establish himself as a lesser deity to lycanthropes. When doing so, Mask revealed himself to be impersonating Tyr, while the Catlord stole the artifact which was promptly taken by the real Tyr who revealed himself. Tyr warned Mask that this did not make them allies, while allowing the Lord of Thieves to then journey through the Upper Planes while Erzeck was left to face Tyrs judgement.

Sometime around the start of the Decline, Mask stole the Tablets of Fate and Tyr had his eyes poked out by The Overgod, as retribution for his failure to notice. Ilmater, true to his ethos, worked to teach Tyr to live with these disabilities, though in truth they were not a great hindrance in view of his power as a greater god. Torm, being a god aware of his own past humanity, also aided Tyr by tempering the god's zeal for justice with the gift of mercy.

In 438, a great disagreement between Tyr and other residents of the Celestial Planes over mortal battles of the Ascension caused a great divide, with many members leaving the House of the Triad to join Sune in Brightwater. Tyr sent Helm as a messenger to Sune to explain his position, and Sune tried to act as a peacemaker. As the goddess of love, she proposed a marriage between Tyr and Tymora as a way to restore balance to the Celestial Planes. Tyr agreed and began a formal courtship with the goddess of good fortune.

It was suspected that Cyric plotted to corrupt the arrangement, for rumors came to Tyr that Helm, who had been delivering messages from the House of the Triad to Brightwater for Tyr, had been having a secret affair with Tymora and that she loved the god of guardians instead of the god of justice. Tyr believed that the only way to reach the truth of the matter was to challenge Helm to a duel, and Helm felt that it was the honorable act to accept the challenge.

In the duel that followed, Helm was slain, leading to more chaos in the Celestial realms. Heartbroken, Tymora left Brightwater to be with Tyr out of duty, but Ilmater left the Triad and accepted Sune's invitation to Brightwater.

More tragedy among the gods shortly followed. In the next year, Cyric teamed with Shar to bring about the death of Mystra and the resulting Spellplague. At least this event brought Sune and Tyr onto the same side again, and the two of them, with Lanthander's aid, pursued and captured Cyric, imprisoning him for a sentence of one thousand years.
After imprisoning Cyric, Tyr abdicated his godhood and granted Torm all his deific power, because the Even-Handed had lost faith in himself and in his ability to lead and judge. Tyr counseled all of his followers to offer their allegiance to Torm.

Death Sometime after the Spellplague and before 800 DC, Tyr died fighting off a demonic invasion of the upper realms in an act of heroic sacrifice. Tyrs absence reinforced the role of Torm as the new master of Celestia.

Resurrection Tyr was returned to life by the Overgod during the events of Fates End, who saw him as the only one befitting of the portfolios of law and justice.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Primarily concerned with the punishment of wrong-doers and the general furthering of law and good in the world. Tyr hated duplicity, trickery, rule-breaking, and wanton destruction. He likewise hated lies and the breaking of oaths and was disgusted by persons who earned from such things. For his own part, he never would break a promise. Tyr urged the establishment of moral and ethical codes for sentient beings in all lands.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Tyr was the head of the group of deities known as the Triad. The two other gods who made up the Triad were Ilmater and Torm. Torm served as Tyr's war commander and was known as the "good right hand of Tyr."
Along with the Triad, Tyr was close to Lathander. He opposed the deities Bane, Bhaal, Cyric, Mask, Talona, and Talos.
Divine Classification
Greater deity
Alignment
Lawful good
Church/Cult
Children
Gender
Male

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